I'll re-emphasize. Learn to play this these four chords the easy way and you can play thousands of songs.Learn these four chords in the key of G the way Matt teaches them and you'll be playing songs pretty quickly.
There are lots of good teachers on YT, I follow a lot of them, but this guy is perfect for beginners. Promise.
The F is always the first barre that you must learn. And of course B is next. I agree with you, don't cheat them....despite watching all the good players who do. I am not good enough to play to what I call the lazy version. But once you understand the neck of the guitar you master F and then I prefer to incorporate the G barred. Then drop down to the C. Its just a matter of understanding the major and minors of the barre cords and then muscle memory.@Ollie It sounds like your friend just has a good ear. That has always been super helpful for me. I can "hear" a lot of songs in the first 4 or 5 seconds and know what they are. Even if I am watching a band that is doing it their own way.
Great advice, BTW. Except for the cheating on bar chords. NEVER cheat on bar chords. Learn them first, then learn when to cheat on them. LOL
Got some other things going on right now, but I'll keep that in mind.I am late to this conversation but........I don't live too far from you KYCatFan.....while I am not a great guitar player I can definitely help you......any time you want to hook up and see what we can share hit me up.....I am retired so my schedule is.......NO SCHEDULE...... 🤣 If'n I was you I would use tableture to learn...to play.......
I live in Louisville-HIghlands area-and would be interested in getting together with any local posters to work on guitar. I am a intermediate level that would like to work on getting better.About 15 years ago, I went on a trip with some guys. Trip to Lake Cumberland, just sitting around the fire, listening to music, drinking beer. One of the guys that went I didn't know too well. He said ehe played guitar. I asked him to bring it. First song he played was "Piano Man" and he also played the harmonica with it. I was blown away. He basically can play any song you play for him. Can't read music. I thought if I bought a guitar, I could do that after a lot of practice. I can't. He's very talented.
Lots of good tips. I started out about 15 years ago on an acoustic Eppiphone. Got some flash cards and learned, G, C, D, A, E, Em, AM, D7, then finally a cheating F.
Go to a website like www.chordie.com or www.chords-and-tabs.net and look for songs that have the chords you know. Practice those until you get it down. At first I could play the chords but it didn't sound right. Now, most of them I can play after strumming around and figuring it out.
Was told at the beginning like someone mentioned, sing along while you play.
First song I learned to play was Wagon Wheel, pretty easy progression. Then you will start to notice how many songs have those same progressions.
Learn to use the transpose arrow on the websites. Get a capo.
Have fun!
If you find a song you like, learn it. Actually about 2-3. It's fun to go somewhere and someone hand you a guitar and you play a few songs, especially if they don't know you play.
Myself, I sit out back on my patio a lot and just try songs and record myself to see if it's any good. One of my favorite songs to play is Tom Petty "Dogs on the Run".
Also, find an artist you like and check out all their songs......I play a lot of John Price (I can't Travis pick like him), Josh Ritter, Todd Snider, Tom Petty....
Also remember it doesn't have to sound just like the original, just has to sound good and everyone can sing along.
If you live in Louisville, I would love to meet and practice.
I can: I sing what I play mainly to help train my ear to help figure out harmony vocals.Had a thought today while listening to George Benson. When regular-people (non genius/prodigy) guitarists are noodling around, do you or can you sing the riffs you’re playing at the same time? Not talking about playing other people’s songs, but just stuff that you come up with.